© Nathaniel Schoen

Those lucky enough to have been at Manchester, Tennessee’s epic four-day Bonnaroo festival last weekend are now recovering from their food and music hangovers. Here, festival highlights, stats and insider observations:

• The Black Keys hit the Fried Chicken, Champagne and Fireworks party post-show to hang out with Dave Kornell of NYC’s Blue Ribbon. Kornell fried 2,800 pieces of chicken—every piece was eaten—while Buffalo Springfield played right behind him.
• At the party, 36 magnums of Joe Bastianich’s Flor prosecco were consumed in about 30 minutes.
• Praters BBQ from Tennessee served 2,000 pounds of pork.
• The Food Truck Oasis had roughly 12,000 visitors a day.
• The Taco Bus from Tampa, Florida, went through 8,000 tacos.
• Eat Box from Asheville, North Carolina, went through 18,000 meatballs—the fan favorite was the Dirty South (meatloaf balls with pepper-crusted bacon, hash browns and bacon-scallion sauce).
• Good You from Kansas City, Missouri, went through 800 pounds of meat for their burgers made with “unicorn meat and Smurf dust.”

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/mouthing-off/2011/6/14/bonnaroo-food-redux

New at Bonnaroo this year is the Food Truck Oasis. Music fans line up to get food out of a taco truck at the festival in Manchester. / Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

MANCHESTER — Most days, brothers Edwin and Henry Wong swarm the streets of Knoxville in their chili and chips food truck in search of hungry crowds.

But this weekend, the masses will come to them. As is true for hundreds of concession vendors, an invitation to Bonnaroo is an undeniable business offer.

“It means sheer volume,” Henry Wong says. “They’re hot, carefree and hungry. It’s great for us.”

Petros Chili and Chips Knoxville

The Wongs quit their day jobs earlier this year to launch the first-ever food truck franchise for Knoxville-based chain Petro’s Chilli and Chips.

Arrayed with a small flock of other food trucks next to a 40-foot waterslide on the west end of the sprawling farmland where some 80,000 daily festival-goers are partying, the Wong brothers are part of Bonnaroo’s newest addition: tapping into big-city food fads.

In its 10th season, Bonnaroo, which runs through Sunday, will feature 175 performers on 12 stages. Most festival-goers endured the crushing heat, seeking respite in the shade or around water fountains when not packed together watching round-the-clock live music.

The food market, meanwhile, adds some new flavor.

“We wanted something different this year,” said Tiffany Dorman, food curator for Superfly Presents, which organizes Bonnaroo. “Food trucks are a sign of the financial times, and the fest wants to evolve as the food world evolves.”

Bonnaroo has a selective year-long process in choosing food vendors. Hundreds from around the country apply and the fest takes around 70, according to Chris Crowell, who has been picking the fest’s food vendors since Bonnaroo’s start a decade ago.

“We have a very high return rate, which makes the process competitive,” Crowell said. “But we’ve grown every year since we started.”

She continued, “This year we really worked hard on being as local and sustainable as we could. We know there’s a demand for that.”

According to Crowell, about a quarter of the fest’s vendors are from Tennessee, more than in years past.

LeeAnn Cherry is among them.

Cherry’s Bear Creek Farm raises organic Angus beef near Leiper’s Fork. The family-run farm returned to Bonnaroo after having success last year. Cherry said they’re ready to make up to 4,000 burgers through Sunday.

“Coming here helps us as a family,” she said. “At the end of the day it feels like, ‘Oh man, what a ride.’ But how could we turn down the opportunity to showcase what we do 15 to 20 hours a day?”

Economic surge

Bonnaroo’s contribution to Coffee County’s economy is significant. A 2005 Middle Tennessee State University paper estimated that the total local economic impact at that time exceeded $18 million over the fest’s run.

Economist David Penn, one of the paper’s authors, said when adjusted for inflation, the fest’s economic impact will be around $20 million. Bonnaroo spokesman Ken Weinstein said total local economic impact will be around $24 million.

However large the impact, there is no disputing that Bonnaroo provides a major boost.

“When we come to town, we create a Bonnaroo city,” event planner Crowell said.

Indeed, Manchester becomes the seventh most populous city in the state during the fest.

No in-your-face branding

Chad Issaq, one of the top marketing executives for SuperFly Presents, the New York entertainment agency that co-created Bonnaroo, said organizers have always taken pains to keep the fest’s corporate volume low — not giving stages marquee brand names, for instance.

He insists that maintaining a subtler corporate presence has gained importance as the fest grows older.

“We had a realization early on that we’re dealing with a very savvy consumer. The promotions can’t be aggressive. This generation is already over-messaged to,” Issaq said.

Bonnaroo’s corporate branding, he said, is “woven into the fest experience.”

While the sponsors didn’t erect splashy billboards, the brands made efforts to court their audience nonetheless.

Wheat Thins, one of the weekend’s biggest brand names, lured in crowds with an air-conditioned room, free samples and a way to share personalized Wheat Thins music videos to Facebook friends.

Gariner Fructis, another major fest sponsor, offered hair-washing salons. As festival-goers had their hair rinsed, TV screens hung from above offered a reminder of which brand of shampoo was being massaged into scalps.

Bonnaroo veteran

Despite the fest updating its food vendors, most people engaged in commerce at the 500-acre pasture are Bonnaroo stalwarts like Beverly Hills, 64, of Canton, Texas.

Couched between a hula-hoop shop and a hammock lounge, Hills sells cowboy hats, floppy sun hats and fedoras, as she has the past nine years here.

She got her start as a traveling merchant by selling Beanie Babies at conventions. Now, she’s on the music festival circuit year-round, hawking assorted headgear.

Her highest-end hats are part of a Bret Michaels series. Her husband, Don Bird, makes custom hats for the rock singer/actor. They sell to the public for around $100.

“This is not a job to me. It’s my passion,” Hills said. “All of this. It’s a high for me.”

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110611/BUSINESS/306110032/For-vendors-Bonnaroo-business-bonanza

Once again Bonnaroo is stepping up its food offerings.  This year sees the festival tapping into one of the hottest trends in dining:  the food truck. This past few years have seen an explosion of trucks from coast to coast focusing on higher end cuisine.

Bonnaroo has focused its attention on trucks that work the streets of the South East. Whatever your taste, you will find something to satisfy it at the Food Truck Oasis.

Taco Bus from Tampa Bay, FL will be serving their signature “Mex-Mex” cuisine.  Forget the fusion, these tacos are the same ones owner Rene Valenzuela made as a child at street taco stands in Mexico.

Good You: a mobile organic eatery from Kansas City, MO says that the idea of creating food to be enjoyed on the go is an art they have put their passion into.  It looks like that passion has been recognized.  Word on the street is that they are serving Kansas City’s best burger.

Pot Kettle Black out of Charleston, SC is determined fill every belly with authentic immigrant street food.  PKB focuses on specialty sandwiches from around the United States.   New Orleans Muffalettas, Southern Pimento Cheese and Chicago-style Italian Beef are just a few they will be serving.

Eatbox representing Asheville, NC think the more food trucks there are, the better the food will be.  They are stepping it up a notch by serving four varieties their house-made meatballs like grass fed beef balls and Vietnamese style meatballs.

Petro’s from Knoxville, TN is the most local of the trucks making their way to Bonnaroo.  They are already famous for serving their house-made chili & cheese over chips out of their Knoxville restaurant, let’s see what they can do out of their brand new Petro’s truck.

Gastropod’s updated airstream trailer will be making the trip from Miami, FL.  Chef Jeremiah Bullfrog has kitchen credentials that most chefs would kill for.  After a stint at the world famous Il Bulli in Spain he settled down in Miami to create a constantly evolving menu served up with a laid-back, home-style vibe. Gastropod will offer braised short rib sliders with slaw, white corn cake-griddled arepa, slaw bits, white cheese and more.

New this year at Bonnaroo: The Food Truck Oasis. photo courtesy © Sean Cox

I’ve just spent the past few weeks interviewing the food-obsessed Superfly Presents team for the August issue of Food & Wine. Superfly is responsible for producing some of the country’s coolest music festivals, including Bonnaroo, which kicks off tomorrow on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. To celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary, the Superfly team has gone overboard lining up not only stellar music but also amazing beer and food. Here, some highlights:

*Food Truck Oasis: This new food zone is the parking spot for a dozen food trucks from around the country. Don’t miss the Dirty South-Meatloaf Balls with pepper-crusted bacon, hash browns and bacon-scallion sauce from Asheville, North Carolina’s Eat Box; short rib sliders from Miami’s gastroPod; and tacos and burritos from Tampa, Florida’s famous Taco Bus.

*Broo’ers Festival: I can’t think of anything better than a beer festival within a music festival. More than 20 American craft breweries—including Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project and Abita—will be here.

*Fried Chicken & Champagne: On Saturday, June 11, rock stars like Eminem and Arcade Fire will be backstage at a private party, drinking champagne paired with fried chicken from NYC’s Blue Ribbon.

*Crawfish Boil: Superfly thanks the Bonnaroo staff by throwing a karaoke and crawfish boil party on Monday, June 13. New Orleans–based Shaggy’s Boil Inc. will be hosting.

*Food Drive: Last year’s food drive brought in more than 7,000 pounds of food donations, which went to the Good Samaritan Food Pantry of Manchester, Tennessee. This year, Bonnaroo hopes to get 10,000 pounds.

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/mouthing-off/2011/6/8/what-will-eminem-be-eating-at-bonnaroo